Water VS green tea

Julianne3155
Julianne3155 Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Drinking a lot of water is not an easy task for me. I actually despise it. I have cut out soda and juice completely. I have started drinking diet green tea religiously. I know the artificial sweeteners can't be good for me. As silly as it sounds does anyone have tips on making drinking water more tolerable ?

Replies

  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    Can't help you there. I'm in the same situation. I'm not a big water drinker. But I drink LOTS of tea throughout the day (although I use sugar in mine). Used to be that people would tell you that tea and coffee don't count toward your fluid intake, but they do. Maybe not ounce for ounce because caffeinated tea/coffee has a slight diuretic effect but it's minimal. Just do what you enjoy. I've realized at 50+ years old, I'm just never going to love drinking water all day.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Just popping in to say I'm not giving up either one.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary

    If you want to scare yourself further green tea has a little caffeine in it.

    Green tea is an original health food popularized in Japan.

    http://www.hibiki-an.com/sp/contents.php/cnID/17
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited July 2017
    Would you ever consider trying infused water? Some people really love it. Google how to make it. I think many recipes add a bit of stevia or honey.
    If you are buying bottled diet green tea. This option could save you money.
    Whole foods has a wall of teas. Maybe you could even try flavored green teas without sweetener. Even herbal teas someday. I love pomegranate green tea.
  • 92joann
    92joann Posts: 67 Member
    I hated water too, I used to be addicted to energy drinks but now mostly drink water/coffee and the occasional sugar free juice. What I did was I'd start only drinking the sugar free energy drinks, then sugar free regular drinks, then sugar free flavoured sparkling water, then sugarefree stI'll flavoured water. And now I enjoy water enough for it to not be an issue. Our bodies need water, you'll eventually just not be fussed and drink it anyway. I still look at fizzy drinks with puppy dog eyes
  • rmgnow
    rmgnow Posts: 375 Member
    Yah. A good way to make the switch is to drink sparkling water. Look for the 0 calorie ones. The flavored ones are my favorite. That was the gate-way drug for me to start drinking good old regular H2O
  • KaleChipz
    KaleChipz Posts: 53 Member
    I actually infuse my water bottle with a tea bag during the day and keep topping up with ice or water . Today I am drinking ginger peach tea.
  • FireTurtle75
    FireTurtle75 Posts: 2,014 Member
    Tea is fine. If you can gradually reduce the amount of artificial sweetener in it until you drink it plain that would be fantastic, but not necessary. I like @KaleChipz idea too. Just keep using the same teabag & adding to it.
  • ShaDucky
    ShaDucky Posts: 67 Member
    I cut soda my drinking mio with caffiene in my water. Zero soda calories and i always have "water" by my side. Stay hydrated and figure out what works for you!
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    I'm a flavored-but-no-sweeteners fizzy water junkie. To find them in the supermarket, you may need to hunt around and read a bunch of labels.* Common brands include Polar, Deer Park, and LaCroix. Just look at the ingredients on the bottles to make sure there's no aspartame, sucralose, etc., if you don't want them.** There are some cheap/generic ones, too. Aldi's has some as does Trader Joe's.

    Some of the sparkling spring waters are also good. I like an occasional Gerolsteiner's or Pellegrino.

    *If you find your supermarket doesn't carry any, find the manager and explain the difference to them and see if they'll start stocking the unsweetened ones.

    **No, I don't need another argument about whether artificial sweeteners are okay. Sweet flavors, be they sugar- or chemical-based give me the munchies.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    Julianne3155 wrote: »
    Drinking a lot of water is not an easy task for me. I actually despise it. I have cut out soda and juice completely. I have started drinking diet green tea religiously. I know the artificial sweeteners can't be good for me. As silly as it sounds does anyone have tips on making drinking water more tolerable ?

    Artificial sweeteners may not be "good" for you, in the sense of having a direct positive effect on you, but there doesn't seem to be any good evidence that they're bad for you either (unless you personally find they stimulate cravings for other foods that don't fit your goals).

    That said, you could avoid sweeteners (natural and artificial) and save money just by brewing your own green tea and drinking it "straight." Now that it's summer in my area, I pop three tea bags of whatever flavor/caffeination level I happen to want into a small jar (about 3/4 of a quart/liter or a little larger -- they originally held pasta sauce), add cold, filtered water, and let it sit at room temperature for four to five hours. (Make larger batches, using more tea, if you drink a lot -- I generally make a batch every day or two, because I only drink one or two glasses of it a day, as I tend to have hot coffee or tea until mid-day even in summer.)

    The other day I made a batch with two bags of green tea and one bag of an herbal blend that includes naturally sweet flavors like mint, cinnamon, ginger, and licorice (it was Celestial Seasonings tension tamer flavor, but Good Earth makes a similar blend, and I am sure there are others, or you just use an herbal tea or tisane with just one of those flavors -- I know some people really don't like licorice). It added a mild sweet flavor to the green tea that I really liked.
  • asianolikeyou
    asianolikeyou Posts: 393 Member
    Add a squirt of lemon or lime, or drink the water only when it's very cold - that's how I manage
  • catluvgal
    catluvgal Posts: 41 Member
    I figure that if drinking unsweetened tea and coffee keep me from losing weight then I'm not meant to lose it. Hate plain water. Wonder if those of us who can't tolerate plain water are super-tasters, there is always some off putting flavor in water.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I hate drinking water. I drink tea, coffee, diet soda, and seltzer.
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    catluvgal wrote: »
    I figure that if drinking unsweetened tea and coffee keep me from losing weight then I'm not meant to lose it. Hate plain water. Wonder if those of us who can't tolerate plain water are super-tasters, there is always some off putting flavor in water.


    There might be something to this. I consider myself a "supertaster." Actually if I drink a lot of water (more than 8 oz at a time) I get kind of queasy. Yet, I can drink a 20 oz mug of tea, no problem.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    I love water (and prefer it almost always to any other beverage) so I'm no help but the supertaster thing intrigues me. I do notice different flavours of water but even tepid water that has sat in a cup for half a day tastes just fine to me.
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    SafioraLinnea wrote: »
    I love water (and prefer it almost always to any other beverage) so I'm no help but the supertaster thing intrigues me. I do notice different flavours of water but even tepid water that has sat in a cup for half a day tastes just fine to me.

    Yep same here! However I do now filter my water with the Zerowater filter, and it tastes like heaven.

    For those who like iced tea, I have found that if you cold brew it (place tea bags in room temp/regular temp water and put in fridge overnight) it adds a very nice sweetness to the teas, and creates a very mild taste wth no bitterness. This can be done with both herbal or caffeinated teas! Also a little honey goes a long way in tea, with the plus of added health benefits.
  • ColwellCat
    ColwellCat Posts: 84 Member
    So, green tea isn't something traditionally sweetened! I brew and drink a lot of green tea, both hot and iced, and I never sweeten it! If you like the taste of the diet green tea, why don't you try making your own without any sweeteners? The trick to avoiding bitterness with green tea is to use hot, but not boiling water - about 80 degrees is typically good. Or, if you're in no hurry, and want iced tea, you can use cold water and leave it overnight!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    ColwellCat wrote: »
    So, green tea isn't something traditionally sweetened! I brew and drink a lot of green tea, both hot and iced, and I never sweeten it! If you like the taste of the diet green tea, why don't you try making your own without any sweeteners? The trick to avoiding bitterness with green tea is to use hot, but not boiling water - about 80 degrees is typically good. Or, if you're in no hurry, and want iced tea, you can use cold water and leave it overnight!

    Presumably 80 degrees celsius is meant -- that's about 175 degrees fahrenheit.
  • matthiastheredpanda9485
    matthiastheredpanda9485 Posts: 2 Member
    I like both honestly,

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